Instructions for unsubscribing can be found in the footer of this message.

————————————————————————–

Dear Friends,

At a time when our enemies tell us we can’t live, expand, build or breath in Judea and Samaria, it becomes clear why the struggle for a Jewish Shdema is so important.

The struggle in Shdema encapsules the struggle for all of Eretz Israel.

This past Friday tens of people came to Shdema to listen to Rabbi Shlomo Kimchi’s shiur on the signs of Redemption.

This coming Friday Rabbi Zvi Rimon,founder and chair of JobKatif, will be talking on the meaning of mourning and destruction.

Yesterday, Sunday June 28th, the members of Knesset of the Ichud Leumi came to Shdema to tour the place.

MK Dr Arieh Eldad, Mk Uri Ariel and Mk Yaakov Katz, Dr Ron Breiman, Uri Bank, Ruthie Lieberman and others, met in Shdema with Shaul Goldstein, mayor of Gush Etzion and with us, members of the committee for a Jewish Shdema. Goldstein and members of the Committee gave the members of the Knesset an overview of the struggle to keep Shdema in Jewish hands. After that, we gave the members of Knesset a tour of the hill. The Knesset members were appalled to see the illegal Arab construction taking place at the bottom of the hill and witnessed the discrimination against Jews:

Whereas we Jews struggle to receive permits to just go up to Shdema for lectures and events, the Arabs, aided and funded by anti-Israeli organizations like CURE and US-AID have succeeded in illegally constructing a park at the bottom of Shdema, on Israeli-controlled land.

Obviously bothered by our weekly successful events in Shdema, these same organizations have, over the past weeks, increased their pressure on the ministry of security demanding Israel hand over Shdema to the Arabs, allegedly in order to build there a “hospital.”

As Goldstein pointed out, the claim they want to build a hospital there is ridiculous for when one checks their plans, one sees they are talking about an infirmary with only 70 beds, an infirmary the Arabs can build on any barren hill all around Shdema which unfortunately is zoned area A, i.e. under Arab occupation.

The fact that the Arabs and international organizations insist on getting Shdema divulges their real intention: to expel us from this strategic hill and to steal yet one more piece of Land of Israel from the Jews.

The members of Knesset of the Ichud Leumi promised to do all they can to save Shdema and keep it in Jewish hands.

Clearly we must increase our stronghold and Jewish presence in Shdema.

JOIN US FOR four consecutive Thursday-Fridays at Jewish Shdema in Gush Etzion

Come to a special Eretz Israel experience of study, thought, and spiritual enrichment with outstanding lecturers during four Thursday-Fridays at Shdema!

July 9-10 * July 16-17 * July 23-24 (in English) * July 30-31 (in English)

The committee for a Jewish Shdema
http://www.womeningreen.org/

ON THE PROGRAM

Thursday-Fridays
at Shdema in Gush Etzion

An Eretz Israel experience of study, reflection, and spiritual enrichment

The struggle for a Jewish Shdema encapsules the struggle over Eretz Israel
————————————————————-
THE DIRECTION – ERETZ ISRAEL
Thursday, July 9 (17 Tammuz):

5:00-6:00 p.m. - Aryeh Klein, historiographer: “A Geographical and Historical Introduction to Shdema”and “Eighty Years after the Riots of 1929″ (in Hebrew)

6:00-7:15 p.m. - Dr. Haim Shalem, historian, expert on the Holocaust: Rabbi Teichtal: “The ‘Rejoicing Mother’ Is Eretz Israel” (in Hebrew)

Minha (with a Torah scroll), Maariv, and a light meal to break the fast

8:30 p.m. – four years after the expulsion and the destruction of Gush Katif and Northern Samaria: screening of the film “Katif Dream” by Yuval and Aliza Ginsburg
Introductory remarks by the film’s producers

Bus transportation: from Kiryat Arba-Hebron at 4:15 p.m.,Gush Etzion junction 4:30 p.m., Efrat 4:35 p.m., Har Homa 4:45 p.m. Return:10:00 p.m. Shdema is accessible by private car

Friday, July 10
9:30-11:30 a.m. - Dr. Gershon Bar Kokhba, historian, Second Temple period expert - “The Jewish Revolt” with a lecture and audiovisual presentation (in Hebrew)

Exhibition of paintings in the Shdema main hall by Michael Morgenstern from Pesagot.

Bus transportation: from Kiryat Arba-Hebron at 8:45 a.m., Gush Etzion junction 9:00 a.m., Efrat 9:05 a.m., Har Homa 9:15 a.m. Return: 11:30 a.m. Accessible by private car
——————————————————————————————-
BETWEEN TRUTH AND FICTION
Thursday, July 16:
6:00-7:00 p.m. - Prof. Rafi Yisraeli, senior lecturer in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University : “The Islamic Danger in Our Conflict with the Arabs”
(in Hebrew)

7:00-8:00 p.m. - Yoram Ettinger, former ambassador, expert on the United States and the Middle East : “The Demographic Demon: Demographic Time Bomb or Demographic Scarecrow?” (in Hebrew)

8:30 p.m.-10:30pm: - Waiting for the Rear Guard, a play in Hebrew based on the poem “In the Ears of My Children I Will Tell” by Uri Tzvi Greenberg-
introduction and background: Rabbi Zeev Sultanovitch, lecturer at the Uri Tzvi Greenberg Heritage Center and the Jewish Statesmanship Center for Strategic Planning (in Hebrew)

Bus transportation: from Kiryat Arba-Hebron at 5:15 p.m., Gush Etzion junction 5:30 p.m., Efrat 5:35 p.m., Har Homa 5:45 p.m. return: 10:00 p.m. Accessible by private car

Friday, July 17

9:00-10:30 a.m. - Self Defense and Krav Maga: fundamentals and basic training for youth and adults
for boys and men: with Yisrael Melamed, Senior Trainer
for girls and women: with Shoshi Tropper (Baum), Certified Instructor

9:30-10:30 a.m. – Shiur in Hebrew by Rabbi Yaron Durani, Rabbi of Nokdim

10:45 a.m.-12:00 noon - learning the basics of construction with Itzik and Danny Halamish

Exhibition of paintings in the Shdema main hall by the late artist Emmanuel Libkind z”l

Bus transportation: from Kiryat Arba-Hebron at 8:15 a.m., Gush Etzion junction 8:30 a.m., Efrat 8:35 a.m., Har Homa 8:45 a.m. return: 12:00 noon Accessible by private car

DOES THE MEDIA REPORT OR CREATE NEWS?

Thursday, July 23:

6:00-8:00 p.m. - Journalists’ Round Table (in Hebrew)
moderator: Adv. and publicist Nadav Haetzni
participants: Sofia Ron-Moriah, Mekor Rishon,Hagai Huberman, military correspondent,
Efrat Weiss, Ynet, an Arutz 7 representative ,Yehoshua Breiner, Walla news

8:30 p.m.-10:30pm - screening of the film The Rebellious Son by Shoshi Greenfeld
Introduction by the film’s producer

Bus transportation: from Kiryat Arba-Hebron at 5:15 p.m., Gush Etzion junction 5:30 p.m., Efrat 5:35 p.m., Har Homa 5:45 p.m. return: 10:00 p.m. Accessible by private car

Friday, July 24
9:00-10:30 a.m. - Self Defense and Krav Maga: fundamentals and basic training for youth and adults
for boys and men: with Yisrael Melamed, Senior Trainer
for girls and women: with Shoshi Tropper (Baum), Certified Instructor

10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon – PANEL IN ENGLISH: “We Made Aliyah. What Now?”
with Rabbi Moshe Lichtman, author of Eretz Israel in the Parasha and translator of Em Habanim Semekhah, Rabbi Yitzhak and Geula Twersky, Zahava Englard, and Sharon Katz, editor of VOICES as moderator.

10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon - learning the basics of construction with Itzik and Danny Halamish

Exhibition of paintings in the Shdema main hall by the artist Boris Karsalov of Maaleh Adumim

Bus transportation:from Kiryat Arba-Hebron at 8:15 a.m., Gush Etzion junction 8:30 a.m., Efrat 8:35 a.m., Har Homa 8:45 a.m. Return: 12:00 noon Accessible by private car

FROM DESTRUCTION TO REDEMPTION

Thursday, July 30 (Tisha be-Av):

9:00-10 a.m. - kinot

10:00-11:00 a.m. - Rabbi Yehuda Glick, Director-General, Temple Institute:
“From Destruction to Construction of the Temple” (in Hebrew)

Bus transportation: from Kiryat Arba-Hebron at 8:15 a.m., Gush Etzion junction 8:30 a.m., Efrat 8:35 a.m., Har Homa 8:45 a.m. Return: 11:00 a.m. Accessible by private car

Friday, July 31

9:30-10:30 a.m. – LECTURE IN ENGLISH by Itamar Marcus, Director, Palestinian Media Watch: “Fatah and Hamas: Find the Difference”

9:00-10:30 a.m. - Self Defense and Krav Maga:
fundamentals and basic training for youth and adults
for boys and men: with Yisrael Melamed, Senior Trainer
for girls and women: with Shoshi Tropper (Baum), Certified Instructor

9:30-10:30 a.m. - Rabbi Zevik Harel, director, Midreshet Tohar, Yad Binyamin: lecture and film on the Hasidic Rabbi of Piaseczne (in Hebrew)

10:30-11:30 a.m. - “Russian Poetry You Didn’t Know” - poetry translated into Hebrew, with Zeev Geisel, artist and mathematician, and Alex Kropisky, musician

Exhibition of paintings in the Shdema hall by artist Anna Hodorkovsky from Tekoa

Bus transportation: from Kiryat Arba-Hebron at 8:45 a.m., Gush Etzion junction 9:00 a.m., Efrat 9:05 a.m., Har Homa 9:15 a.m. Return: 11:30 a.m. Accessible by private car

Transportation by pre-registration only: please call Elisheva 052-3003689
Light refreshments will be served – On Thursday evenings please bring your supper and dress warmly- basic bathrooms and water will be available

The Committee for a Jewish Shdema & Women in Green
www.womeningreen.org.il

Rabbi Yaron Durani (El-David, Nokdim), Zuri Botusch (Jerusalem), Igor Byalski (Tekoa), Elisheva Ginsburg (Alon Shvut), Orly Glauber (Har Homa), Ruti Wallfish (Tekoa), Ina Vinyarski (Tekoa), Yehudit Tayar (Beit Horon), Timna Katz (Neveh Daniel), Nadia Matar (Efrat) 0505-500834, Gedaliah Friedman (Neveh Daniel), Yehudit Katzover (Kiryat Arba-Hebron) 0507-161818, Eli Rodan (Elazar)

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Instructions for unsubscribing can be found in the footer of this message.

————————————————————————–

It is with great sadness that we just heard that our dear friend Bernice Wolf passed away today after a battle with cancer.

Bernice, of blessed memory, was the mother of Deena Horowitz, HY”D, who, together with her husband Rabbi Elnatan Horowitz HY”D, were murdered by Arab terrorists in March 2003, while eating their Shabbat meal at home in Kiryat Arba Hebron.

Bernice was a long time friend and member of Women in Green. There are not enough words to describe what a special person Bernice was. A passionate and proud Jew, never afraid of expressing her Zionistic views, always there with us at our vigils, demonstrations and other activities.

We will always remember Bernice. We promise her to continue the struggle for the Land of Israel; a struggle she was such a major part of.

Funeral will be tomorrow morning, Friday, June 26th. It will start at 11:00 am at the Sanhedria funeral parlor and from there people will drive to Har Hazeitim upper parking.

Shiva will be held Friday after the funeral, Motsaei Shabbat, Sunday and Monday at Bernice’s apartment in Armon Hanatziv, Talpiyot, 620 Adam Street, Apartment 3.

To her son Stanley and the entire family we say: Hamakom yenachem etchem b’toch she’ar aveilei tzion v’yerushalayim — “May G-d comfort you, together with all mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.”

Nadia Matar, Women in Green

For details about the funeral please call Bernice’s grandson at 052-8693695.

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Instructions for unsubscribing can be found in the footer of this message.

————————————————————————–

Dear Friends,

Below please find a strong article on the importance of PR and the unfortunate lack of proper PR by Israel.

What the author did not write about, and we would like to add, is that as long as Israel’s leaders are incapable of declaring, loud and clear, that the entire Land of Israel belongs to the People of Israel, and that we have a right to settle, expand and build in it because it IS OURS, there will never be a proper government PR, for PR (hasbara) can be successful only when someone really believes in the justness of his cause.

Sadly, with political leaders who are willing to capitulate to the Arab enemy and who have no problem giving away parts of our G-d given Biblical homeland to that enemy, there will not be any proper PR coming from the government offices.

The task of local and international hasbara and activism is thus left in the hands of the Zionist Land of Israel grassroots organizations, such as Women in Green and others, who, unfortunately, unlike the leftist organizations who receive millions from the European Union and other Jew haters, have very little funding and thus cannot do the job they so much want to do.

Food for thought…..

Nadia Matar
Women in Green
————–

The War Of Words That Israel Must Start Winning

[This guest blog was written by Tabatha Caplan, creator of the A Jew With A View blog < http://ajewwithaview.wordpress.com/>. Tabatha is a freelance journalist living in Britain. She is also a strong supporter of Israel with a keen insight into Israel’s standing among the Gentile nations. Be sure to check out her blog.]

I almost got lynched last week. My crime? I dared to defend Israel in public. I even ­ brace yourselves ­ declared myself a Zionist. I might as well have confessed to torturing tiny animals, given the horrified response. Within minutes, a relaxed dinner party became a veritable contest to see who could most malign Israel.

It’s a tad traumatic being the sole Zionist in any gathering these days. Israel-bashing has become a national sport in many countries. Post the IDF [Israel Defense Force] strikes on Gaza and the court of public opinion hasn’t just judged Israel “guilty”; rather, Israel has been hung, drawn and quartered. The Arab nations have failed, thus far, to destroy the physical Israel, but their revisionism of Middle East history is winning hearts, minds and newspaper columns across the globe.

Slowly but surely, the world is coming round to the Arab lie that Jews are the ‘aliens’ in the Middle East. Tell most people that the very term ‘Palestinian’ always included the Palestinian Jews who have inhabited the region for 3,500 years ­ continuously ­ and they’ll just smile pityingly, and claim you’ve been hoodwinked by ‘zionist propaganda’.

And oh, the bitter irony of this particular slur! Because by any objective standards, Israel’s PR is dire. It has been for a while, actually. Back in 2002, the Jerusalem Centre For Public Affairs published a detailed report, in which it noted:

The Israel State Comptroller’s report released on October 7, 2002, levelled unprecedented criticism on Israel’s public relations efforts. The State Comptroller revealed that ’since its establishment in 1948, Israel’s intelligence organs have not succeeded to respond to the broad-based propaganda and incitement by the Arab world.’

During Operation Cast Lead, I sat with my head in my hands, as a series of increasingly inarticulate figures ‘represented’ Israel. Do the powers-that-be scour the streets to find the least sympathetic, least sophisticated, least effective spokespeople? It would almost appear so.

As the Jerusalem Centre report notes:

Leading U.S. media relations experts sent to Israel by private sponsors in May 2002 described Israel’s PR efforts in the United States as “disastrous.”
Israel’s Consul General in New York, Allon Pinkas, complained that Israel’s image in the U.S. suffered from a lack of clear and “disciplined” messages. International media consultant Lillian Wilder, a media advisor to former U.S. President Richard Nixon, noted in an interview that Israelis are often unprofessional and “wordy” on television.

Now at this point, some of you will roll your eyes and stop reading. After all, doesn’t the tiny Jewish nation have enough to cope with, given the spectre of a nuclear Iran, and an American President openly wooing Islam? What, is Israel also meant to fret over what ill-informed folk in other lands believe??

My answer? A resounding yes!

Yes, Israel does need to argue her case more effectively on the world stage. Because when hatred of the Jewish state was confined to the Arab and Muslim worlds, that was one thing. Alarming? Sure. Surprising? Hardly, given what Islam says about ‘infidels’ and Jews in particular.

Now, though, the loathing for Israel that has festered in Arab and Muslim hearts for six decades is being exported by Islam as it goes marching unfettered through Europe. It is no coincidence that in nations with large influxes of Muslims, hating Israel is now de rigueur.

Take Britain. During the Gaza Operation at the end of last year, Britain went berserk with rage towards the Jewish state. Thousands marched through the streets, brandishing banners that read ‘Death to Israel!’, while they chanted ‘We are all Hamas now!’

And please recall that Britain itself suffered a terrorist attack in 2005. So why did not one Israeli spokesman make the vital yet basic point that terrorist attacks in Israel are the same as terrorist attacks in America and Britain? And that, unlike both these countries, Israel suffers terrorism on a regular basis?

Let me make it clear: I supported Operation Cast Lead. I defended Israel passionately ­ at work, online, in restaurants, at parties, to friends and colleagues and strangers alike. Like many of my fellow diaspora Jews, and our Gentile friends who love Israel, I wrote letter after letter to the British press, trying to counter the unfair bias against Israel.

It was like trying to stem a tidal wave with your thumb.

In the UK, physical attacks on Jews increased. Some Israelis in Britain found themselves being refused service in pubs, clubs and various other venues. One Israeli family was actually forced into hiding, so intense was the hostility directed at them.

In north London, one Orthodox Jewish man was dragged out of his car, in broad daylight, and beaten. Shops that were ­ wrongly ­ linked with Israel had their windows smashed. Supermarkets stocking kosher or Israeli products were threatened with boycotts. Tesco, one of the largest UK supermarkets, was swift to create a special ‘helpline’ for customers wishing to avoid Israeli goods. (Suffice it to say that I, along with many others, am now boycotting Tesco.)

In schools, colleges and University campuses across the country, Jewish and Israeli students found themselves marginalised and verbally abused. At Cambridge and also the LSE (London School Of Economics) students staged mock ‘occupations’ to express their ’sympathy’ with Gaza. The fact that Gaza had been under Palestinian [sic] control for five years by this time was a mere detail.

Nor was this anti Israel sentiment confined to the ‘ordinary’ person in the street. The Arab propaganda has a vice-like grip on the British media, with the BBC, the Guardian, and The Independent cheerfully leading the charge.

These media outlets ignored the fact that Israel had endured years of Palestinian terrorism, and instead chose to portray Israel as the sole aggressor in the conflict. False accusations against Israel appeared daily, with no corrections ­ let alone apologies! ­ when the true facts later emerged. The Guardian, especially, delighted in publishing grotesque cartoons which painted Israel as a brutal Goliath, hell-bent on destroying the weaker, Palestinian David.

The effect of this British media bias against Israel? During Israel’s anti-Hamas strikes, Jews and Muslims met ­ separately ­ with their respective MPs. My local MP explained that in the House Of Commons, Israel was being demonised on a daily basis. Several government members were demanding that Britain cut ties with Israel altogether.

This same MP told us that every single member of Parliament was ‘being bombarded’ by their Muslim constituents, who were insisting that they condemn Israel.

And fuelled by the BBC, and the Guardian, many non Muslims added their voices ­ and of course their potential votes ­ to this anti-Israel agenda.

We should note that the BBC took to bashing Israel with a vengeance. This surprised no one. Indeed, the accusations of bias against the BBC go back several years. Keen to disprove them, the corporation even organised its own review, the Balen Report, in 2004.

And the findings?

We don’t know. The BBC has refused to make them public. It has, in fact, spent a whopping £200,000 [$328,560] to keep the report private. A London solicitor is pursuing the BBC through the courts in a bid to bring the Balen Report into the public domain. As the Sunday Telegraph noted:

The BBC is mounting a landmark High Court action to prevent the release of The Balen Report under the Freedom of Information Act, despite the fact that BBC reporters often use the Act to pursue their journalism.
The action will increase suspicions that the report includes evidence of anti-Israeli bias in news programming.

Now, in light of all this, consider an item that appeared a while back at the superb HonestReporting:

Israel’s Finance Ministry shot down an idea for a ‘Jewish Al-Jazeera’. Isaac Herzog has been quoted as saying: ‘We considered establishing a Jewish Al Jazeera, especially one that would broadcast in Arabic and Farsi. But it was torpedoed by the Finance Ministry’.

Hamas has a huge advantage precisely because of Al Jazeera, since the station is also watched by the English speaking world. Compare this to Israel, which has to filter reports through foreign journalists. A ‘Jewish Al Jazeera’ which offered reports in English, would be a massive help.

And think about how simple the Palestinian propaganda is. It concentrates on one clear, albeit deceitful, message: We were here first. The Jews kicked us out. We’re the victims.

The 2002 Jerusalem Institute report noted an interesting example where Palestinian propaganda excelled while Israeli PR failed miserably:

Losing the “Al Aqsa” Brand War
Naming the current war the “Al Aqsa intifada” proved to be a stroke of Palestinian PR genius, as much of the Western news media adopted this Palestinian brand name that casts the conflict internationally in the image Arafat sought.
For its part, Israel’s failure to “rebrand” the conflict on its own terms to reflect the conflict’s true nature ­ a pre-planned war of terror against Israeli citizens ­ placed the Jewish state on the defensive in the international court of public opinion from the first day of the conflict.

Yet, a full seven years on, it seems that Israel has not learned anything about how to improve its PR and indeed, empower those of us in the diaspora who are passionately putting its case. Israel is still miscalculating. Badly.

Witness what happened recently when Israeli tourism posters appeared around London. Anti-Israel groups quickly began lodging official complaints. Result? The posters were all removed. It’s clear that pictures of golden beaches and bronzed bodies won’t cut it. Israel needs to remind the world that she is the sole democracy in the region. Where are the images of Palestinians being treated in Israeli hospitals? Where are the maps illustrating how tiny Israel is compared to the 99.9999% of the Middle East that the Arabs control? Where are the public roll-calls of all the Israelis who have lost their limbs, loved ones and lives to Palestinian terrorism?

And yes, I realise that antisemitism lies at the heart of much unfair bias against Israel. No doubt about it. But that’s even more reason why Israel needs to sort out some decent PR.

This begs the question: why doesn’t Israel just take a leaf out of the Palestinian book? After all, the world is bombarded with images of wounded Gazan children, even when those children are suffering purely because of Hamas aggression.

Why are there never any images of Israeli children as they lay injured on the ground following a Hamas attack?

It’s time to play by some of the same rules as the Palestinians, unpalatable though this may be at times. Either that, or Israel continues to be unfairly and insanely singled out as the villain of the piece.

Finally, I’d like to suggest that there is one bit of rebranding that we can and must all do, right now.

And that is to reclaim the word ‘Zionist’. We have to stop allowing the Arabs and Muslims to hijack this word and turn it into an insult. So next time you hear someone using ‘Zionist’ as a pejorative term, make this clear:

A Zionist is simply anyone who supports Israel’s right to exist.

After all, we don’t hear people bashing Muslims for supporting the existence of their twenty-two Islamic nations, do we??

http://emetnews.org/weblog/the_war_of_words_that_israel_must_start_winning.html

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Instructions for unsubscribing can be found in the footer of this message.

————————————————————————–

VIGIL IN SUPPORT OF AND IDENTIFICATION WITH YEHUDA GLICK

Harassed by the authorities because of his activities to bring Jews to the Temple Mount

WEDNESDAY. June 24 at 8:00pm

At the CHAZON DAVID Synagogue in Kiryat Arba Hevron

Since the liberation of the Temple Mount in 1967, the government of Israel implements racist decrees against the Jews who want to go up, in purity, to the Temple Mount.

In the last few years more and more Jews have asked to go up to the Temple Mount in purity (i.e. according to strict halachic rulings), with the support of Rabbi Dov Lior and other Rabbis.

The Israeli police does everything to try and limit the number of Jews going up and prevents from those going up any form of prayer, bowing down or any other mitzvah.

One of the dedicated Jews who help bring many to the Temple Mount is Yehuda Glick.

Yehuda Glick, formerly spokesman for the Ministry of Absorption who resigned in protest against the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif, is now the director General of Machon Hamikdash (The Temple institute). He also serves as a guide for many groups of Jews who go up to the Temple Mount in purity.

This past Sukkot, thanks to Yehuda Glick, hundreds of Jews arrived to the Temple Mount for Hakhel and this in coordination with the police. And yet, the police was very surprised by the large amount of Jews that showed up. In reaction the police started a campaign of harassment against Yehuda Glick. This campaign included preventing him from entering the Temple Mount, arresting him, slandering him and even beating him up.

Recently, the police even called other activists for “investigations” all in order to scare and threaten those who want to go up to the Temple Mount. It is clear that the police act against the law and that is why they never bother to show up in court. They only threaten and harass.

Because the main harassment by the police at this point is focused against Yehuda Glick, we will all gather at a vigil in his support on Wednesday, June 24, at 8:00pm at the Chazon David shul in Kiryat Arba Hevron with the participation of Rabbi Dov Lior, MK Dr Michael Ben Ari and Yehuda Etzion.

We will tell Yehuda Glick:

WE SUPPORT YOUR EFFORTS! WE ARE WITH YOU!

And we will tell the authorities:

STOP HARASSING JEWS WHO GO UP TO THE TEMPLE MOUNT!

THE TEMPLE MOUNT MUST BE IN JEWISH HANDS!

The Action Committees of Efrat-Gush Etzion-Kiryat Arba Hebron - Southern Hevron and friends

Pinhas 052-5743551 Assaf 052-5743551

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Instructions for unsubscribing can be found in the footer of this message.

————————————————————————–

Summary of court session
State of Israel v. Nadia Matar
Criminal proceedings 001470/06 before Justice David Mintz

June 16, 2009

On Tuesday, Yonatan Bassi testified at the trial of Nadia Matar, who is on trial for having compared his activity within the context of the expulsion initiative of the settlers of Gush Katif and northern Samaria to the activity of the Judenrat in Berlin, as regards the deportation of the Jews of Berlin in the Holocaust.

It became clear from his testimony that Yonatan Bassi did not file a complaint with the police, nor did any member of the public complain about this statement by Nadia Matar. Furthermore, when Yonatan Bassi was summoned by the police and the Deputy Attorney General Mr. Mike Blass, Bassi urged them not to initiate criminal proceedings against Nadia Matar. Furthermore, Yonatan Bassi emphasized in his testimony that he was not hurt by Nadia Matar’s letter and statements in the media, which are at the basis of the charge sheet against her, Obviously, the prosecutor strenuously objected to revealing details in regard to the 59 defendants who were convicted of crimes that they committed in the context of opposition to the expulsion initiative. All those instances consist of transgressions more serious than that with which the defendant is charged in the charge sheet, arguing that these are not relevant. The court accepted the position of the defense attorney that these comprise evidence relevant for proving the central defense claim of the defendant, namely, selective enforcement of the law against Nadia Matar resulting from political persecution.

The courtroom was filled with dozens of supporters who came from near and far in support of Nadia Matar, and to protest against the continued persecution of Matar by the State Attorney’s Office.

Adv. Yoram Sheftel brought those present to tears with the difficult and trenchant questions that he directed to Yonatan Bassi.

Adv. Sheftel reminded those in attendance that, for example, Kibbutz Sedeh Eliyahu, where Bassi lived, evicted him because a considerable portion of the people in Sedeh Eliyahu, as well, thought that Bassi resembled a Judenrat. Adv. Sheftel quoted from a letter written by Col. Gabbi Durlacher (Res.), a member of Kibbutz Sedeh Eliyahu, in which he wrote explicitly that the letter that Bassi wrote to the inhabitants of Gush Katif is reminiscent of the Judenrat.

Bassi definitely felt uncomfortable with Sheftel’s trenchant and important questions, but, on the other hand, it did not appear that he was remorseful. He admitted that, unlike others who refused to accept the position of head of the Sela Administration, he agreed to Sharon’s request. Apparently, as Adv. Sheftel hinted, that Yonatan Bassi agreed, politically and ideologically, with the very idea of the expulsion of 8,000 people from their homes and land.

The trial will continue on October 15.

Women in Green
Nadia 050-5500834

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Instructions for unsubscribing can be found in the footer of this message.

————————————————————————–

Reminder: Tomorrow, TUESDAY, JUNE 16, at 1:00pm -(13:00):

YONATAN BASSI will testify in the trial against NADIA MATAR at the SHALOM COURT IN JERUSALEM (next to the Russian Compound) in front of Judge David Mintz in the trial by the State of Israel against Nadia Matar, chair of Women in Green, on the issue of free speech in her comments against Yonatan Bassi, on the eve of the expulsion from Gush Katif and Northern Shomron.

Details: Nadia Matar 050-5500834

Yoram Sheftel has called upon Yonatan Bassi to come and testify.

Please show your support with your attendance at the trial.

Please call Nadia on Tuesday morning at the above number to confirm the trial indeed will take place, because the courts often change dates and times at the last moment.

To read the Arutz 7 report on the trial: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124199

Women in Green

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Instructions for unsubscribing can be found in the footer of this message.

————————————————————————–

Dear Friends,

As we are waiting for Bibi’s speech and pray he will stand firm and not cave in, we share with you a few announcements:

1) TUESDAY, JUNE 16, at 1:00pm - Yonatan Bassi will testify in the trial against Nadia Matar

The trial by the State of Israel against Nadia Matar on the issue of free speech in her comments against Yonatan Bassi will continue on TUESDAY, June 16, at 13:00.

Details: Nadia Matar 050-5500834

Yoram Sheftel has called upon Yonatan Bassi to come and testify.
Please show your support with your attendance at the trial. Please call the above number for details, because the courts often change dates and times at the last moment. To read the Arutz 7 report on Nadia’s trial: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124199

2) THIS PAST FRIDAY IN SHDEMA

Friday in the Land of Israel Cultural Center in Shdema

The former army barrack in Shdema, that function as a “here and now” cultural center every week, was completely filled. On this Friday. June 12th, more than 150 people packed the barrack and many were left standing. Everyone listened very attentively to the lecture by Sarah Jo Ben Zvi on the essential nature of Jerusalem, and they anxiously awaited the lecture by Philippe Karsenty.

Philippe Karsenty is a French Jew who devotes himself to spreading the truth about the Muhammad al-Dura episode (that Arab boy who was not shot (despite Western media claims) in 2000 at the Netzarim junction by IDF forces, while his father protected him).

Philippe began his lecture by saying that it was Nahum Shahaf who was the first to reveal the al-Dura deception. Karsenty continued by showing the extent to which the fabricated film on France 2 television aided the Arab propaganda in causing tremendous harm to Israel and to the Jewish Diaspora. Throughout the Arab world, the child Muhammad al-Dura became a “martyr” used to inflame the Arab masses for actions against Israel. The devisers of the Muhammad al-Dura deception also succeeded in portraying Israel, that in reality was on the defensive, as aggressive and inhuman.

With screen after screen, tables and diagrams, photographs and the testimonies of experts, Philippe, never losing his sense of humor, exposes the falsehood, the deception, the tendentious media work, and details about the exhausting trial, that he lately won, but still has not come to an end.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, Israeli television, and the entire Israeli establishment should have lovingly embraced him and made use of his Sisyphean labor of collecting the facts, and thanked him for the wonderful information work that he did - but, to our shame, this is not the reality. And so it happens that Philippe spends his time going from one lecture to the next, in Israel and the world, and promises not to stop until France 2 tells the whole world that they lied, deceived, and defrauded.

Philippe’s lecture concludes with thunderous applause by an audience that embraces Philippe with great love and appreciation for his courage. We, the members of the Committee for a Jewish Shdema, thank him wholeheartedly. On Shabbat we read the Torah portion of the spies - 2 out of 12 succeeded in upholding the truth. Likewise, Philippe upholds the truth - a single individual against the world.

Mrs. Ruhi Avital from Ofra volunteered to translate the lecture from English to Hebrew, and to provide the dozens of listeners with the proper technical equipment.

Yehudit Tayar from Beit Horon exhibited some of her beautiful paintings that finely express Israel’s landscapes and life. She offered one to Philippe.

Next Friday Rabbi Shimon Golan will give a lecture on the topic: Unity and Disagreement.

We will paint the buildings after the lecture. Everyone is requested to take part in the struggle to keep Shdema in Jewish hands.

The members of the Committee for Jewish Shdema also read the letter by the head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council to the Defense Minister, as follows:

“A Palestinian/European plan for the establishment of a “hospital” in the area of the Shdema camp is on the Defense Minister’s desk now.

Shdema lies on the road between Jerusalem and Herodium, in an extremely strategic location. It controls Har Homa on the northern side, Beit Sahur on the western side, and the road that connects Jerusalem and Gush Etzion on the eastern side.

* The plan and its scope reveal that it is, all in all, a limited clinic, and this plan cannot be called a hospital. The plan lacks parking lots and areas for future development and growth.

* Anyone standing on the Shdema hill sees tens of thousands of empty dunams around Beit Sahur. Why, then, did the Europeans/Palestinians choose to ask specifically for this area?

* It’s quite clear: the Europeans/Palestinians want to take away from us this little bit that remains. The extent of the remaining Area C is very limited, and they aspire to take control of whatever they can.

* Central Command officers thought that there was no security problem with the establishment of the hospital in the northwestern sector, but I am certain that this won’t end there! The Palestinians will demand afterwards to receive the rest of the area. Then we will have no alternative, and only then will the Central Command object.

* I ask that you oppose the handing over of the areas of the Shdema camp to foreign control, and maintain a permanent military presence.”

This is what Shaul Goldstein, the head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, requested of the Defense Minister.

In order for the Defense Minister to agree to this request, political pressure must be generated and a permanent presence at the site maintained. With God’s help, there has been a wonderful response by the public in Jerusalem, Gush Etzion, Kiriat Arba-Hebron, and even farther away, such as Ra’ananna, Beit Shemesh, Meitar, Tel Aviv, and more. They all understand that the struggle for Eretz Israel continues to be a dunam and another dunam, a goat and another goat, an expansion and another expansion. We meet at Shdema every Friday morning at 9:30. Join us!

The Committee for a Jewish Shdema
www.womeningreen.org

For pictures by Gemma Blech
http://picasaweb.google.com/gemmablech/PhilippeKarsentyAtShdemaExposingTheAlDuraHOAXJune11th2009 #

For pictures by Rivka Ryback
http://www.yeshabulletin.com/FIGHT%20BACK/FightBack.htm

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org

Instructions for unsubscribing can be found in the footer of this message.

————————————————————————–

This Friday at Shdema
June 12, 2009

9:30-10:15
Sara Jo Ben Zvi, Deputy Director of the Women’s Beit Midrash in Efrat, will speak on” Yerushalem- the origin of Jerusalem”

10:30-11:30am
Philippe Karsenty: “The Al Dura Hoax”

Philippe Karsenty, a former Jewish businessman residing in France, owner of a Media-Ratings agency, is the person who shattered the Muhammad al-Dura hoax. On September 30, 2000, there was a battle at the Netzarim junction between Arab terrorists and IDF soldiers. It was claimed in the report by the journalist Charles Enderlin on the France 2 channel, that IDF soldiers killed the al-Dura child in that battle.

Karsenty showed that the report was not true. He accused France 2 of having broadcast a fabricated film.

In the legal battle between Karsenty and France 2, with the Israeli government standing on the side and offering no help, Karsenty waged a courageous and resolute struggle in defense of Israel’s good name and accuracy in the media.

Karsenty has dedicated his life to shattering the Muhammad al-Dura hoax, to which end he travels throughout the entire world to give a fascinating lecture, with video clips. Karsenty said he is “delighted to be invited and to come to Shdema”, as he understands the significance of the struggle for the site. We must come and attend his lecture and disseminate his message.

The lecture will be in English, with simultaneous translation into Hebrew through earphones.

Bus transportation (only by prior registration):
from Har Homa at 9:00 (next to the police)
from Kiryat Arba-Hebron: 8:45 (next to the Council)
from the Gush Etzion junction: 9:00
from the Efrat junction: 9:10

For details and bus registration:
Yehudit Katzover: 050-7161818
Orli Glauber: 054-4286425
Nadia Matar: 050-5500834

The Committee for a Jewish Shdema & Women in Green
www.womeningreen.org

——————–

New twist in alleged al-Dura cover-up
Karsenty tells The Jewish State case is ‘bigger than the Dreyfus affair’

Sarah Morrison
THE JEWISH STATE
March 27, 2009

A documentary released March 4 on German-owned TV station ARD attempts to prove that the notorious video of the killing of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Dura was a hoax, and could set two European allies on a collision course.

The 55-second video, shown on France 2 television on September 30, 2000, shows Muhammad huddling with his father, Jamal, unsuccessfully hiding from gunfire at the Netzarim junction in the Gaza Strip. After Muhammad’s death, he was considered a martyr in the Arab world, appearing in everything from TV programs to postage stamps as a symbol of Palestinian suffering in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The video was used to fuel the Intifada.

In a letter to supporters released March 10, Philippe Karsenty, head of the French media watchdog group Media Ratings, describes five crucial pieces of evidence uncovered by the documentary that support the claim that the video was deliberately filmed as propaganda and knowingly aired as such by France 2 television: A biometric analysis of faces proves that Muhammad is not the boy presented at the Gaza morgue; a lip-reading technique revealed al-Dura instructing people standing behind the cameraman; the boy filmed by France 2 moves a red piece of cloth down his body for no apparent reason; there is no blood on Muhammad or his father when they were both supposed to have received a total of 15 bullets; and the body at Muhammad’s funeral arrived at the hospital before 10 a.m., whereas France 2’s footage was filmed after 2:30 p.m.

Two weeks after the German documentary aired, France 2 sent ARD a letter threatening a lawsuit for defamation, the same case brought against Karsenty in 2004 for publishing an article discrediting the video. Karsenty believes that because France 2 and ARD are owned by the French government and German government respectively, the lawsuit threat may become a diplomatic row.

“The relations between France and Germany could be damaged just because of this blood libel,” Karsenty told The Jewish State in a phone interview March 19. “Are we getting close to a diplomatic crisis between France and Germany? If there were really a lawsuit, it would basically be the French state suing the German state.”

The new documentary is getting support from Israel as well. Yigal Palmor, spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Jewish State, “The documentary by Esther Schapira is remarkably researched and was reviewed by a number of German papers in a rather favorable tone, without the strident controversy that used to characterize debates on this sensitive issue.”

According to Karsenty, very little is being published in France about the video. No media outlet or individual blogger will publish information on the German documentary, for fear of being sued by France 2. Anyone who does speak out receives a letter demanding an apology, and without an apology, a lawsuit follows.

That’s exactly what happened to Karsenty in November 2004. After years of advocating for the retraction of the video, he published an article accusing France 2 of broadcasting a fake news report. Two weeks later, France 2 sued Karsenty for defamation, and two years later, a court battle ensued.

“When German TV broadcasted a documentary in 2002, it said that the bullets were not from the Israeli side,” Karsenty said. “They figure out he was killed by the Palestinian side. I thought it was shocking. I went all over Paris saying that Jews have been assaulted all over the world for this and to please correct it. And nobody wanted to correct it. All places said they were not interested. I kept going because I thought it was important for the basic truth, the French democracy, the state of Israel, and the Jewish people.”

Israeli scientist Nahum Shahaf, who originally investigated the video, confirmed Karsenty’s suspicions several months into his work. This motivated Karsenty to investigate the video himself, and what he found was “shocking.”

“I realized it was completely fiction,” Karsenty said. “Everything was absurd in the film.”

During the defamation trial, then-French President Jacques Chirac wrote a character testimony for French journalist Charles Enderlin, who originally edited, commented, and aired the piece. The testimony, Karsenty said, may have had very strong influence in a country with no real separation of powers.

“In French society, where powers aren’t separated, you don’t want to make your retirement too early,” Karsenty quipped.

The French court ruled in favor of France 2 and Enderlin and fined Karsenty 1,000 Euros, 3,000 Euros in court costs, and a symbolic damage payment of one Euro to each of the plaintiffs. Karsenty immediately appealed, and another trial was held in September 2007. It was during this trial that the judges realized that there were problems with the al-Dura video.

“Instead of one hearing, which is typical, during the hearing, the judges realized there were problems,” Karsenty said. “They asked the lawyers [for France 2] if they agree that this part is staged. The lawyers said that it was not staged.”

Still wary of the video, the judges demanded to see all 27 minutes of video, but France 2’s lawyers only produced 18 of the 27 minutes.

“They deleted nine minutes of the most ridiculous part,” Karsenty said. “Eighteen minutes were ridiculous enough.”

The 18 minutes of footage showed “rehearsals” for other videos, including Palestinian children falling down and then getting up again, and people being escorted into ambulances, only to walk back out of them. Though that would leave nine minutes of video unaccounted for, Enderlin claimed there was no more video.

However, the courts determined that Muhammad was still alive at the end of the film, and in May 2008 reversed the defamation verdict against Karsenty.

“The trial was devastating for France 2,” Karsenty said. “Everything was on the table so I could argue with them.”

The most crucial part for Karsenty was his victory in a court that had, through the government, an interest in seeing France 2 vindicated.

“France 2 is owned by the state,” Karsenty said.

Another facet to the controversy was the reaction of the American Jewish Committee’s representative in Paris, Valerie Hoffenberg. Karsenty, in a letter to supporters in May 2008, said Hoffenberg discouraged French officials from looking into the al-Dura affair, and even blocked access to Karsenty and others presenting evidence to discredit Enderlin’s video. AJCommittee responded with its own statement disputing Karsenty’s accusations. Karsenty raised the point that AJC’s statement was only in English for the domestic audience, in order to make AJC donors believe that their organization was on the right side of the picture. But, when asked to make a comment in French, their representative in Paris refused. She didn’t want to jeopardize her relationship with the French establishment, Karsenty said.

“They just wanted to protect their access to the French government,” Karsenty told The Jewish State about AJCommittee. “Access is everything for them.”

Almost a year after the ruling, France 2 still vehemently defends the al-Dura video’s authenticity. What helps their cause, Karsenty said, is Enderlin himself.

“Enderlin went all over the world and got influential people to cover the blood libel,” Karsenty said. “He is the most respected French journalist in the Middle East. Even before his story, he was the voice of the western world in the Middle East — amazingly connected. Muhammad was an icon protected by another icon, Enderlin, and he attracted many people to cover up his lie.”

Karsenty said the fear of a financially and physically draining lawsuit from Enderlin and France 2 paralyzes other media throughout France. The release of the German documentary was not reported for this reason.

“No… media published anything that the documentary was published, not even the Jewish weekly,” Karsenty said. “The government succeeds well with controlling the media outlets in France.”

What the French media ignores attracts international attention, and Karsenty takes up the offer. Karsenty has spoken in Italy, America, Belgium, England, and Israel about the al-Dura affair and is slotted to travel to India and Australia to present his evidence.

“We win by making France look ridiculous around the world,” Karsenty said. “This case is bigger than the [Alfred] Dreyfus affair. He was just a little Jewish guy who was sent away. This is about the Israeli state, which represents in people’s minds every Jew in every region. When Israel is accused of killing a little boy for pleasure, it says that all the Jews are killing for no reason. It’s exactly the blood libel that we’ve had for centuries. When [President Nicolas] Sarkozy understands that he will be on the wrong side in the history books, maybe he will change. But until then, we need to make him listen. Unfortunately, he is surrounded by people who lie to him about the whole story.”

Eight years after the original air date, Karsenty is still one of the sole voices in France who speaks outright about the al-Dura affair. He still wants an admission of fault from France 2 and Charles Enderlin, an apology he may never hear, but is determined to pursue.

“What’s important is that we were asked to prove that al-Dura is a hoax,” Karsenty said. “Now we know it’s a hoax. When will the French government cease to support this lie? We have to fight them. I can lose a trial on a technical ground, but it doesn’t mean that I’m wrong.”

=============================================
Women For Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
Tel: 972-2-624-9887 Fax: 972-2-624-5380
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org

To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to

To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
list4-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org